Robbed in Barcelona

[__hh]

My heart-felt sympathy to hear this. Please let us know of the serial numbers once you get a chance.... you may also want to flag it at http://www.registeryourcamera.com/ (not sure how useful it will be for you, but it may deter the potential buyers).

 

[Benjamin]

How about some brutal racism to brighten your day?

Yeah for sure!

I'm not interested in an argument, but perhaps it would be a good idea for him to rephrase his post.

Benjamin

 

[__hh]

Yeah for sure!

I'm not interested in an argument, but perhaps it would be a good idea for him to rephrase his post.

Benjamin

Thieves are thieves, regardless of their race/nationality

 

[thinkfloyd]

when i first read the title, before clicking the thread i thought to myself "oh sh*t." getting robbed in any form or manner sucks. at least you weren't hurt or anything, and that's what's important...

think of it this way, maybe they needed the stuff more than you do (aside from the passport of course), and it was your donation to someone who needed it. that's how i think, when i get robbed...pathetic i know, but at least it helps me ease my anger/frustration/fury, etc... 🙂

 

[FA Limited]

mike sucks to lose gear like that 😡 ... best of luck replacing it
what's with the anti-bag brigade here? yes i have a huge messenger bag, but unfortunately that's what i need to carry my kit.

I agree, don't carry idiotic "camera bag". Keep camera in your pocket if possible. You telegraph yourself as a target. The "nicer" the camera bag, the bigger the score for the thief.

what kind of an m-mount camera can you stuff in your pockets, with a lens? maybe a deep jacket pocket? but if it's summer and you're wearing a jacket and fumbling with stuff in your pockets when no one else is then you stick out just the same.

Camera bags are part of the problem here I think. Course, holding the camera is never completely thief proof -- no question a savvy thief could grab it and I would probably loose it -- but it is harder than a simple bag snatch.

let's say you're walking around and then you find out your shoelace is untied...

 

[chris00nj]

Thieves suck. I'm so sorry to hear that. Losing the passport is probably the worst part.

Back in the 60s my grandfather had his Leica & Summitar stolen in Germany. I only brought my Bessa to Italy.

I use a money belt for passport. The wallet goes in my front pocket and then I fold the pocket up and in. It's tough to describe but prevents someone from reaching and grabbing your wallet like a potential pickpocket in Naples tried. In the other pocket, I keep about $20 of spare money so I'm not having to reach in and out of my wallet all of the time. I use a shoulder bag, which stays in front of me.

 

[Tom A]

That is too bad -being robbed sure tends to give a bad impression of a place!
I always use a vest - with probably 27 pockets and all velcro'd. Pick pockets hate those as a/ they dont know which pocket contains anything valuable and b/the noise of the velcro is a dead give away.
Never park a car and leave anything visible in it - or put anything in the trunk and leave the car. Do that stuff before you get to your destination!
In the early 80's Paris was plastered with the "gypsy kids" who would surround you - one kid would hold out something for you to look at (newspaper. magazine even just a blank piece of paper) whilst the other ones were trying to riffle through your pockets!
One day I was walking along the Seine and spotted an obvious tourist couple on the other side. The "hord" descended on them and I yelled "watch out, they are thieves". The couple clutched their bags and the kid's got pissed and started throwing stones at me. Having had enough of these thieves, I grabbed a stone and throw it back. If there had been a scout for a Major Leaque Baseball team there - i would have been signed one! I nailed the biggest kid with a forehead hit - hard enough to make him sit down (and bleeding profusely). The kids decided to scamper - dragging the "bleeding leader" along. probably thought "Damned, the tourists are fighting back". They probably changed venue and become "investment bankers" after that!

 

[Tom A]

In France and particularly in Paris in the 80's, these were "gypsy" gangs. One woman would be strategically placed in a corner or doorway. The kid(s) would snatch a bag or wallet and run by her and she would grab the loot and hide it in her skirts (they usually had multiple of these with pockets stitched in them). I you caught the kid, he/she would claim ignorance and of course have no incriminating evidence on his/her person.
These were not "suffering" wretches - these were and still are well organized gangs. After a couple of months in Paris, you got quite good at kicking them or kneeing them - you got accosted at least once an hour and the novelty soon wore off!
I have no sympathy whatsoever for these gangs and if they get nailed by a knee or stone - it is the risk they take. My sympathy lies with the people who are kicked out of mental institutions and forced to fend for themselves on the street - i happily share whatever largesse i can spare with them.

 

[aperture64]

I worked with a guy in NY that was huge Leica buff. He had multiple M6 bodies (the M7 or MP wasn't out yet) and he always carried a body and 35mm Summicron with him. He was always on some weird train going somewhere during early morning hours. I asked him if he felt safe, even though he had the gear in a beat-up messenger bag and didn't look like a photographer. He said that he had never had a problem. A few week later, he came into work and his eyes were bloodshot. Sure enough, the previous night, he got itno trouble. He was on the G train at 4am and, as the doors opened at a stop, someone demanded his bag at knifepoint. The dude jumped out of the train just as the doors closed. I saw him hours later that day and he was then bouncing off the walls. Apparently a cop had seen the theif run up the subway stair case and he stopped and arrested him. He found my co-workers license iinside the bag and called him.

 

[martin s]

It happened twice that the zipper of my bag was open after walking close by the eiffel tower, I had exposed film in there, man I'd have been mad. Nothing compared to your loss though mike kim, that's just awful, hope it'll somehow work out for you.

martin

 

[Tom A]

This is not "racial" hatred at all. It is displeasure with organized gangs stealing and threatening people for monetary gain.
The fact that Paris was inundated with gypsy gangs at one time was just a fact - not racial profiling in any way.
I live in one of the most diverse cities when it comes to cultures - and i love that aspect of Vancouver. Yes. occasionally it brings problems when the cultures clash - but it is a problem that can be solved.
At the moment various gangs are shooting at each other - but sooner or later that will come to an end too. This is of course a "turf" war over drugs!

 

[leica007]

This whole thread makes me rather "uneasy" Fred. So much racial hatred, esp' from you,Tom A. As a "RFF mentor" you should be ashamed of yourself for advocating such violence.

100% support you, Richard. As already noted, thieves are thieves, Gypsy, Morroccon, white, black, yellow, brown.... of all kinds.

So, while we should sympathise with the victim, but we must NEVER pander to racism. Civility and humanity demand that we stay away from stereotyping people.

Mike, I am too a student of Oxford. Get in touch with me, when you are in the town.

 

[Tom A]

By smashing rocks into kids heads 'till they "bleed profusely"?

He throw the first rocks and I only throw it back at him to make him stop. And yes, two of the rocks hit me first, but I was wearing a heavy jacket so only a bruise. I do not advocate violence except in self-defense! And, truthfully, whoever had thrown those rocks, irrespectively of sex,race,creed and religion would have them thrown back at them!

 

[leica007]

This is not "racial" hatred at all. It ...was just a fact - not racial profiling in any way.

This "fact" has given rise to hatred towards Gypsies and Romas for centuries in Europe. Look around for similar 'facts' in your country and see what you have done to the Indians - Canada has destroyed a whole series of civilizations: Read Colin Samson's A Way of Life that Does Not Exist.

And the "fact" has not changed at all - so, instead of this impressionism, try to understand the situation, otherwise they will remain 'thieves' forever. More you point to "facts" [i.e. stereotypes], the more draconian your Govt. gets with these people.

 

[djonesii]

I will not bother the forum with yet an other I've been mugged in Paris story, nor the alleged ethnic origin of the low lifes who got about $150 cash out of my use now stash, but as I did follow the good travel advice of splitting money CC/ and passports, it was only a small cash loss, not a stop the trip CC or passport one. The best thing to say is that my not too old parents walked away unharmed, and with all their belongings in tact.

The most shocking thing was when my French wife described the incident to the French Metro worker, their response was I'm sorry, that happened on the French RAILWAY system, that train is not our responsibility. As my wife is a native, it had nothing to do with a tourist bias .... I think the criminal gangs know all the tricks!

Even if they need it more than I do, I earned it ...... the straights are not dire enough to resort to theft. Often times in France their camping caravans ( trailers ) are pulled by Mercedes. I have personally seen this as I had to walk by an encampment on my way to work.

Dave

 

[Silva Lining]

Thievery transcends race, colour and creed. Its about a range of things from anomie, to alienation to survival. But it is always a response to a social problem. If a particular social group or race seems to 'fit' with a prescribed behaviour then it is because the social conditions that lead to that behaviour are more prevalent in that group, NOT because that group has say, a racial tendency to it, for example.

So, its factually right to say that some gypsies are thieves, because they demonstrably are, however not all thieves are gypsies and most importantly not all gypsies are thieves!

Indeed, it would seem the biggest thieves are white men who work in finance! But remember not all white men are thieves...

 

[chris00nj]

So that makes it OK?

Throwing rocks at "kids" is hardly "self" defence, rather "precious camera" defence.

Carry on among yourselves. I'm going to look in the gallery at some PHOTOGRAPHY.

...

It's horrible that parents use their kids to steal from people. They are taking advantage of Western laws that do not heavily punish kids, plus people's apprehension to hitting kids. The parents have taught them that stealing is okay. It's going to very hard for the kids to ever know anything but crime. Are we supposed to turn over our possessions to them just because they are under 18?

It's nice and easy to take the moral high-ground about being nice to kids, even if they are thieves, but perhaps you've never been accousted by a group of 25 kids with them pawing at your pockets. I've chosen to start running instead only because of a fear of winding up in a jail where I don't speak the language, but I would have no sympathy for them if someone did hit them.

If their parents or the government doesn't want to teach them that stealing is wrong, maybe someone else has to or they will be thieves for life.

Thievery transcends race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. The thieves in France tended to by gypsies, but it was little Italian kids in Naples, or Egyptian kids in Cairo. Being a paisano, I didn't think any different of the Italian thieves or the gypsies.

 

[aperture64]

Gotta love RFF. A thread started by a guy that got ripped off turns into a thread about racism and rock throwing. This site never ceases to amaze me.

 

[dotandcom]

Mike, I'm very sorry to read about your wretched bad luck. I won't offer any even worse stories to cap yours and I will spare you gratuitous advice about what you should have done. However, I work in Oxford and if on your return you are in need of a camera until you return to LA, I'm sure I can lend you one. I have experienced so much hospitality and generosity on my visits to the States (not least to LA) that I shall be delighted to reciprocate. Let me know if you are interested and we can arrange a meeting.

Make the most of your time in Barcelone.

All the best,

Chris

 

[bob338]

Originally Posted by Tom A
He throw the first rocks


So that makes it OK?...

yes.

Throwing rocks at "kids" is hardly "self" defence, rather "precious camera" defence....

why is it wrong to throw a rock BACK at someone who threw it at you?
these gangs are very well organized. they use their age as a way of bullying you more than an adult could get away with. i would applaud anyone who defended themselves or helped out some who was being accosted by these little criminals.

bob